Minnesota – A Calamity in One Tragic Act

For weeks I have meant to sit down and write this particular blog.  I have had the red line proposals from the Minnesota Orchestra administration for two months, and I have promised my blog mate Drew that I would be a part of a detailed analysis on the impact of these proposals and the implications for the future health of the M.O.  But I have to admit the truth – I give up.

The reason I give up is that it is too depressing. When I first heard the line “over 200 changes to the Master Agreement” that came from the musician committee I ignored it.  If you follow orchestra negotiations one becomes almost immune to pronouncements like this, which tend to be posturing for the public, not true negotiation positions.  Reading through the red line proposals, however, was deeply sobering.  There was no hyperbole in the musicians’ statements.  Quite the opposite – if only a small portion of these proposals were implemented it would fundamentally alter the basic relationship between the M.O. and the musicians employed there. Drew has given excellent analysis and commentary and on that level I don’t think I could add much.

What is blatantly obvious is that there is no room for artistry in the “vision” being laid out by the current administration of the M.O.  Their vision is completely about money and control.  Musicians under contract will be dealt with as nothing more than grunts, front line soldiers to be told where, what, and when, but certainly not to be considered as valuable assets, let alone artists.  As this madness has dragged on, the odds of the Minnesota Orchestra ever returning to the heights to which they are accustomed have dwindled precipitously.

However, I still believe that it is not too late.  The damage that this lockout has inflicted is considerable, and if an equitable agreement is made soonest it will still take years for this organization to recover.  Personally, I do not want to be consummed by this drama.  There are other things to write about, some of them very positive.  So, I will give a series of suggestions to all the constituents involved.  I’m pretty sure these will be completely ignored since obviously everyone else knows best.  None-the-less, I give them here, and then I think I shall be done.

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To the Board of the Minnesota Orchestra –

I have no idea what has led you to your current decisions.  I am not privy to your meetings or your privated discussions.  I suspect that this current path has been orchestrated by the current Executive Director.  As the Board of this public institution it is your job to safeguard it and ensure that it continues to thrive in a manner most beneficial to the people of the Twin Cities and Minnesota.  The actions you have taken that have led to this lockout have been extremely detrimental to the fiscal and artistic health of the organization that you are supposed to protect.  In addition, you have lost the confidence of the people of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and we do not believe you have the welfare of the Minnesota Orchestra in mind.  You must reverse your current path.  You have two paths in front of you:

  1. Fire the Executive Director and immediately re-open negotiations with the musicians with the help of an independent arbitrator; or
  2. Resign en masse.

There are no other options that will ensure the fiscal and artistic health of this organization.

To the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra –

If neither of the above actions happen then I fear that your careers as true artists with this particular organization are over.  Those of you who can leave, leave, whether by retirement, audition, or whatever other method is open to you.  There may still be a paycheck here at the M.O. but there is little doubt in my mind that it would be soul-sucking.  That’s one thing when you are working with numbers or something, but when you are supposed to create art and move the souls of people….. too depressing.  However, if these changes are made, maybe there is hope.  I would certainly NOT start crowing about winning anything.  Your orchestra is still in serious financial trouble.  Look towards the long-term, not the short-term.

And for the record – any young musicians out there thinking of auditioning for the M.O., if there isn’t a major change in the Board position – don’t bother.  Look, this is a phenomenal place to live, for my money the best metro area in the entire USA.  But you wouldn’t want to try and make music with the M.O.  There will be no morale here.  You will be the musical equivalent of a Borg drone, nothing more.

To the Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra –

More than anything else I do not want to write this paragraph.  We conductors do not like being dragged into messes like this. We especially do not like addressing a colleague in public.  There is no upside for us in these situations since due to how orchestras are governed we end up caught between all the competing constituencies, usually without any real way of shaking people back to a saner course of action.  None-the-less:

Dear Osmo, if the board does not do a volta-face then the only way for you to keep your artistic honor is to resign as Music Director of this orchestra.  There will certainly be nothing left for you here but an utterly demoralized collection of unhappy and disgruntled people looking for a way out.  Your artistic vision will always be 2nd place to the smooth functioning of the “corporation.”  You have no need to be a part of this.  You are better than this.

To the Movers and Shakers of the Twin Cities –

To the various politicos, business leaders, community leaders, press, etc. – here is your chance.  We are coming up on the new year.  Make your voices heard.  Demand that the Board change their direction.  Demand that this 110+ year old organization be treated with more respect than is being shown right now.  You have the power to force a change by making some noise.  The noise will not be as lovely as music, but right now there is no music!  It is time for you to stand up.

To the Audience of the Minnesota Orchestra –

This is YOUR Minnesota Orchestra.  It does not belong to the Board, or the Executive Director, or the Musicians, or anybody else! It belongs to you.  It is a community asset and resource.  It is one of the reasons why the Twin Cities is such a great place to live.  Fight for it.  Do not be passive-aggressive, as is your wont.  This will not help.  You have the opportunity to demand that this great cultural institution be put on a path that will ensure its long-term fiscal and artistic health.  Do not squander this opportunity, and let your voice be heard.

 

That’s it.  I’m done.  Good luck, everybody.

30 thoughts on “Minnesota – A Calamity in One Tragic Act”

  1. I think and hope that you may underestimate the tenacity of the musicians in the Minnesota Orchestra. Perhaps the BEST thing that could be done when it’s all over, is for the musicians to play the way they always have…at their very best under a wonderful music director who chooses to stay and continue to make great music. Not saying it’s going to happen that way, but don’t musicians want to make great music above all else? Sure some will lose heart, move to another orchestra, retire, but that is always happening even when times are great. I wouldn’t give up on the Minnesota orchestra just yet, and when did salary alone determine the level of music?
    Love your thoughtful comments.

    • Please re-read the blog. I do not ever say that salary alone determines the level of music. Furthermore, no, musicians don’t want to make great music above all else. We want to make a living. The whole “starving artist” routine is utter bullshit, especially for those of us who are trying to raise children.

      • Ah the one dimensionness of the internet!….Seems that what I said and what you read into it may not have been what was meant. There’s a humorous saying somewhere about that. “Utter bullshit” no less!! I didn’t deserve that comment, but there it is. If we were speaking together instead of writing both of our meanings would have been clearer, and kinder. Interesting that my written words implied so much offense to you. I am 100% in support of the MO musicians. What the outcome is to be, you may be able to discern better than I, but it ain’t over yet. Lots of changes to come yet in this saga.
        Best wishes,
        Ed

    • It’s not really a matter of will those remaining musicians put out 100% of their efforts once performances restart, it has much more to do with the type of institutional culture that will exist once this is all done with. This is not going to be the same old MO once it returns and the musicians view of the institution and the way it is deciding to treat its employees has made a major shift. Now it will be a job that may or may not meet their families needs and lives will have to change. This is a much deeper and dreadful shift that WILL have artistic consequences.

  2. ONe of the big problems that allows boards and managements to think that they can get away with things like this is that musicians will not ever perform badly even if their livlihood has been cut. there is, unfortunately, very little real immediate relationship between what is going on there and the artistic product in the short term. Long term it will certainly do lots of damage and many of us would rather play where we are for considerably less and feel valued in our cummunities and by our managements than to be in places like Minnesota and Atlanta and risk going through what they are or have.

  3. I heard of a seminary which had a somewhat parallel upheaval, and the professors formed a “Seminary in Exile” – they kept themselves together and essentially worked under new management. Is an “Orchestra in Exile” a possibility here?

    • Dave, the musicians have said that the endowment and Hall were built to support the Orchestra so walking is the wrong thing to do. If they formed a new orchestra it would decades (or more) to rebuild. Could they? Yes. Should they? In my opinion, no.

      • Mary, thanks. Endowment and Hall do put a different spin on it. By “decades to rebuild,” do you mean the fundraising/facility/management side of things? Or would rebuilding of the orchestra itself be necessary? I suppose the muscians’ salaries partly funded by the endowment and by advertising, etc. that would need to be rebuilt — in other words, it’s not just the subscriptions to the concerts that fund the project. Is that correct? (I’m really quite ignorant about these things.)

  4. Call up the Berlin Philharmonic and reorganize the Minnesota Orch under their Federation/Foundation format and have the entire Orch and Conductor intact resign and reboot. This is the only answer. If cuts in salary are necessary, then have the Orch musicians vote on it. Orch Mgt should be fired and the new Minn Orch should elect their new Mgt and be able to fire as well.

  5. You should also see the Oklahoma City Philharmonic formation under Joel Levine in the 90’s. They left behind a long established symphony institution and created a new orchestra that is vibrant and financially healthy to this day.

  6. Classical music is dying. The Golden Age of Orchestras is over in America. We witnessing the American Orchestra on life support these days.

  7. Bill can you link to an analysis of the red-line? I want to know more about what the changes the board requests are, and why they would be so detrimental.

  8. Thank you, Bill. Not pleasant reading but so important for all Minnesotans to hear. I’d like to ask your permission to make copies of your letter to hand out at my piano students’ recitals next weekend. Let me know if that’s OK with you.
    Thanks Elizabeth Erickson

  9. No mention of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra? We are in danger of losing them both I think. I didn’t see anything about the multimillion dollar expansion of Orchestra Hall – who is going to play there? One silver lining may be an increase in attendance in other orchestral performances in the Cities. We have many orchestras here, most of them pretty good. These smaller groups are more vital for our community now as ever.

  10. It is ironic that this situation seems to be coming to a head near the anniversary of Mozart’s death. One can easily realize Wolf’s frustration with Archbishop Colloredo and Count Arco in the eloquent and impassioned statements of the MO players and Maestro Vanska against the seeming irrationality and obfuscations of the MO management and board.

    Has anything really changed since then?

  11. As a city foundation, the BP receives significant operating support from the city of Berlin. Do you think Minneapolis will cough up?

  12. Thank you Bill! This is all so very sad and not needed! I would hate to see the musicians leave as they have put down roots and raised their families here. Many of them have been here for decades. There must have been something else the board could have done years ago to prevent this. One is that the money raised for Building for the Future should also have been allocated for the operating expenses that includes the musicians salaries. The donors for this project should have been told the dollars raised would include the ability to keep these fine musicians. There seems to be so much wrong with the contradictory statements coming from the board and management. I understand that the board members are volunteers but they are also business men and women and know that unhappy employees that are underpaid and mistreated are not a good asset to any company. The business models today include strategic plans for engaged employees which in turn keep the customers coming back.

  13. Check the World Clarinet Alliance site http://www.wka-clarinet.org and look at the Berlin Philharmonic site and Digital Concert Hall pictured on the Home Page and see what they are doing right. I see vibrancy and good health, and by contacted them for their advice this may save the Minnesota Orch, St Paul Chamber Orchestra and others mixed up with this mgt crisis killing them. It takes courage to make things happen and the present course like the Cliff debate in DC is a fateful waste of effort. An American Orch Revolution may be in order to save them……

  14. Hello. As a proud Minnesotan I am profoundly disturbed and deeply troubled by this seemingly untenable situation. I am an outstate Minnesotan and know that part of the $$$$$ contributed to this hall comes from outstate. I think the entire board should resign en masse. They are poor keepers of our hard earned dough. Then governor Dayton should become immediately involved, appoint an emergency coalition to solve this thing. NEXT: the MN Orchestra should appoint board members from outstate MN who have a larger vision of what this orchestra means to our state…I am available every other rainy Tuesday. Let’s solve this thing.
    S

  15. Dave, sorry about the delay in response. I meant all of the assets of the Orchestra. Donor lists (no financial value on that but it takes a long, long time to build those relationships), subscriber lists (again you build over time), the physical building, the endowments and investments worth just north of $172 million. Probably rebuilding of musicians and other personnel. And on and on.

  16. The Minnesota Orchestra Board is meeting today, Dec. 6, 2012. I understand that the Minnesota Orchestra board typically meets at lunchtime at the Minneapolis Club, 729 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are not listed on the Club schedule, and I don’t know Mpls regulations for street demonstrations or protests, but if a few folks showed up with signs or support buttons, it might at least get seen and noted.

    I will be there around 1:00 pm, and will bring coffee for anyone who wants to share their support or talk over the situation.

    The board and management have dug themselves a bunker to insulate themselves from listening to and communicating with the players and the public. This is short notice, but, it’s also short notice for them to change their meeting place if they hear protestors may be present. We should plan for some public show of support for bringing the musicians back to do what they do better than just about anybody! Civil discourse is needed, and the most productive way to get a message across but they have to listen to people outside the boardroom.

  17. And also $15 mil/yr from the city. Comparing American and European orchestras without adjusting for govt. support is futile. I wish WE had such support (instead of tax breaks for stadiums and sports teams and . . . )

  18. The involvment between the Minnesota Orchestra and Management in negotiations are disapointing. Each party needs to approach a middle stance: Management is responsible for expenses in financing the orchestra; Performers will need to take a pay cut. Why can’t the two groups find the median position that will accommodate both of them.

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